The following CBS report was made
in 2003, even as the debate of the Ministerial Wages were raging in
Singapore.
Ten most
overpaid jobs in the U.S.
CBS MarketWatch | 8:19 PM ET Nov. 6, 2003 |
Chris Pummer
Posted on 11/06/2003 6:28:15 PM PST by StockAyatollah
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Almost no one in America would admit to
being overpaid, but many of us take home bloated paychecks far
beyond what's deserved.
"Fair compensation" is a relative term, yet human-resource
consultants and executive headhunters agree some jobs command
excessive compensation that can't be explained by labor
supply-and-demand imbalances.
And while it's easy to argue that chief executives, lawyers and
movie stars are overpaid, reality is not that cut and dry.
Corporate attorneys earning $500 an hour and plaintiffs lawyers
pocketing a third of a class-action or personal-injury settlement
certainly don't go hungry. Yet many local prosecutors and public
defenders are hard-pressed to pay off law-school loans.
Hollywood stars, making $20 million a movie or $10 million per
TV-season, qualify for many people's overpaid list. But for every
one of those actors and actresses, there are a thousand waiting
tables and taking bit movie parts or regional theater roles
awaiting a big break that never comes.
"A lot of people are overpaid because there are certain things
consumers just don't want screwed up," said Bill Coleman, senior
vice president of compensation for Salary.com. "You wouldn't want
to board a plane flown by a second-rate pilot or hire a cheap
wedding photographer to record an event you hope happens once in
your lifetime.
"With pro athletes, one owner is willing to pay big money for a
star player and then all the other players want to keep up with the
Joneses," Coleman said. "The art with CEO pay is making sure your
CEO is above the median -- and you see where that goes."
What follows is a list of the 10 most overpaid jobs in the U.S., in
reverse order, drafted with input from compensation experts:
10) Wedding photographers
Photographers typically charge $2,000 to $5,000 to shoot a wedding,
for what amounts to a one-day assignment plus processing time. Some
get $15,000 or more. Yet many mope through the job, bumping guests
in their way without apology, with the attitude: "I'm just doing
this for the money until Time or National Geographic calls."
They must cover equipment and film-development costs. Still, many
in major metropolitan areas who shoot two weddings each weekend in
the May-to-October marrying season pull in $100,000 for six months'
work.
Yet let's face it; much of their work is mediocre. Have you ever
really been wowed flipping the pages of a wedding album handed you
by recent newlyweds? Annie Leibovitz and Richard Avedon they're
not, but some charge fees as if they're in the same league.
9 ) Pilots for major airlines
Captains with 12 years of experience earn up to $265 an hour at
Delta, United, American and Northwest, which translates to $250,000
a year and more for a job that technology is making almost fully
automated.
By comparison, senior pilots at low-fare carriers like Southwest
and Jet Blue make about 40 percent less. That helps explain why
their employers are profitable while several of the majors are
teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.
The pilot's union is the most powerful in the industry. It commands
premium wages as if still in the glory days of long-gone Pan Am and
TWA, rather than the cutthroat, deregulated market of under-$200
coast-to-coast roundtrips. Because we entrust our lives to them,
consumers accept the excessive sums paid them, when it's airplane
mechanics who really hold our fate in their hands.
8 ) West Coast longshoremen
In early 2002, West Coast ports shut down as the longshoremen's
union fought to preserve generous health-care benefits that would
make most Americans drool. The union didn't demand much in wage
hikes for good reason: Its members already were making a boatload
of money.
Next year, West Coast dockworkers will earn an average of $112,000
for handling cargo, according to the Pacific Maritime Association,
their employer. Office clerks who log shipping records into
computers will earn $136,000. And unionized foremen who oversee the
rank-and-file will pull down an average $177,000.
Unlike their East Coast union brethren who compete with non-union
ports in the South and Gulf of Mexico, the West Coast stevedores
have an ironfisted lock on Pacific ports. Given their rare
monopoly, they can disrupt U.S. commerce -- as they did during the
FDR years -- and command exorbitant wages, even though their work
is more automated and less hazardous than in the days of "On the
Waterfront."
7) Airport skycaps
Many of the uniformed baggage handlers who check in luggage at
curbside pull in more than $100,000 a year -- most of it in
cash.
On top of their $30,000 to $40,000 salaries, peak earners take in
$300 or more a day in tips. Sound implausible? That amounts to a $2
tip from 18 travelers an hour on average. Many tip more than
that.
While most skycaps are cordial, a good many treat customers with
blank indifference, knowing harried travelers don't want to brave
counter check-ins, especially in the post 9/11 age. Their work is
more mindless than that of a McDonald's counter clerk, who at least
has to bag the order correctly.
6) Real estate agents selling high-end homes
Anyone who puts in a little effort can pass the test to get a real
estate agent's license, which makes the vast sums that luxury-home
agents earn stupefying.
While most agents hustle tail to earn $60,000 a year, those in
affluent areas can pull down $200,000-plus for half the effort,
courtesy of the fatter commissions on pricier listings.
Luxury home agents live off the economy's fat, yet many put on airs
as if they're members of the class whose homes they're selling, and
eye underdressed open-house visitors as if they're casing the
joint.
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